Portable square.



lill

i CHARLES A. BENSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PORTABLE SQUARE.

Application filed January 30, 1911.

Be it known that l. Cuantas A. Benson', a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county oi' Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useiul Portable Square, of which the followingr is a specication.

My invention relates'to improvements in folding squares or separable squares which have a joint, so that it can be folded or taken apart. and put together for convenience at any time; and the objects of my improvements are, iirst, to make a square invisible joint at one ot the inch marks; second, to make it so that when taken-ap. rt a smaller square will be appa-rent and useful when the larger one is not needed; third, to make a simple, cheap and durable device and other features to become apparent from the description to follow.

l ani aware that several kinds of folding squares are being made and sold in the market. My invention avoids the difficulty to the least fractional degree of the square getting out of its 90 degrees angle, which is the most essential spirit of a square for all purposes.

l am aware that joints in wood and other materials have heretofore been made with tenons and dowels and tightened up with screws, bolts and nuts; but I am not aware that any joint of this, my construction,

shown at A, and to be describe-d in details to follow, has been made prior to my invention.

The joint consists oi a suitable number of dowel pins, fixed solid to one part by its tight itness in holes drilled to receive them, with small nicks or threads tiled or cut on one end of the doWel-pins, to receive a blow from a hammer on one side of the part, right over where the nicks are in the hole, so as to make the dowel-pins substantially fastened to one of the parts. `When inserted into the holes made to receive them in the other part, the'projecting end of the center, pin E is threaded to receive the brass screw-shell C, with diameter the same as the thickness of the blade, which is let into a perforation that has the threaded pin `E in its center, here the joint can easily be tightened or `loosened with no tool but the fingers, this prevents the parts from wearing' out or breaking.

To describe my invention so that others versed in the art to which itpertains may Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jian. 16, 191W. Serial No. 605,664. l

make and use the saine, I have illustrated it on the accompanying sheet of drawings 'orining a part of this specication in which- Figure l, is a one side view, full size, with the three portions lett` out as it shows. Fig. 2 is a portion of same view, but it shows the appearance of the j oiut A, when taken apart. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 Fig. Fig. 4 is a cross section on line 4-4 Fig. 2. Fig. is a cross section on line 5-5 Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a one-quarter size of an ordinary square, containing my invention, and showingthe invisible joint at A.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The joint A is perfectly square with the edge, the saine as the eXtreme end ot' the blade, and is almost invisible when closed, on account ot' being in one of the inch marks. The perforation B is cut through the blade to give suiiicientspace to turn the screw sheli C with the fingers on both sidespof blade'.

The screw-shell C is to be made of brass or any suitable material, and threaded inside to tit tightly to the threaded center pin E, and `to be made rough on the outside so that it can not slip in the fingers when turning the same; and to be made squareat the ends, with length and diameter as shown, or to suit forany other purpose. Any ,suitable number of this screw-shell can be used to make the joint A suiiiciently strong for this. or any other purpose.

The threaded retaining pin D is made the saine as the dowel-pin E, which is fixed thereto to keep the screw-shell C, so it can not be lost when the square is taken apart.

The four dowel-pins F and center pins E and D are to be made of the best kind of steel, or any suitable material, for this, or any other purpose. The length and diameter can be made as shown, or it can be made to suit the purpose. These dowel-pins are to be pressed in tight into the holes drilled in about three-eighths of an inch into the part G, and few nicks or threads are cut or tiled on one side of the ends thatgo into the part G, and to receive a few strikes oi a hammer, so as to make them securely fastened to the said part; the dovvel-pins c n also be screwed in on threads, but it would 'weaken them; unless it be made so thatonly a .few threads be made on the end to be Mtl screwed to a few threads that can be made in the bottom of the holes in the said part G. Any suitable number of the dowel-pins can be used to make'the joint strong enough.

The center dowel-pin E is threaded on the projectionbeyond the other dowel-pins, so as to receive the screw-shell C, when inserted into the pat H as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig-6.

The four holes f and center hole e in Fig. 4 are drilled or made With the same gage j as for the holes in Fig. 5, except that the holes in Fig. 4 may be a trifle larger so that they will easily' receive the dowel-pins that have been permanently connected into the part Gr as shown in Fi 2 and Fig. 5. The said gage can of a pattern, with the exact size and required number of holes drilled through a suitable steel plate, and then tempered hard so that the drills can not wear the holes any larger. Such a pattern can be made to fit against one end of the joint A, while drilling intoA one of the parts, and then the other sideI of the pattern to t the same against the other part, while drilling the opposite holes in the last part. Any one versed in thisI art will know how to make such a pattern for this purpose.

This my invention of the improvements can be made in any ordinary square that is all ready made; by cutting it off square in one of the inch-marks with a saw; or, a die can be made to cut both the jointA and the perforation B at the saine time, and then linished un according to my drawing and specification.

Copies ot this patent may be be ma e in the form' obtained for ve cents each, .by addressing the' that may have lodged in the joint, as rust,

dirt, etc., otherwise it can not with ordinary use become ofi' its alinement.

-Having thus fully described my invenlcion what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: In a device of the class described, a main section provided with a plurality of holes,

a separable section-provided with a plurality of dowel pins to register with said holes in the main section, one of said dowel pins provided with screw threads, the main section provided with a perforation into which the extremity of the threaded dowel p'in extends. a threaded retaining pin on the lnain section of the main section into which the threaded dowel pin extends and in axial alinement with the threaded dowel on the separable section and a screw shell or nut arranged to be screwed from one to the other of the two alned threaded pins.

CHARLES A. BENSON.

lVitnesses:

A. D. LiNDQUIsT, A. G. LUNDBERG.

Commissioner of Patentz,

Washingtonul). C.

located in the peir`oraton 

